Sorting device



Fell 5, 1963 R. w. BRANDA ETAL 3,076,548

SORTING DEVICE Filed Dec. 30, 1960 .4771 Z MZ?? 27)/ United States Patent Oilhee 3,076,548 Patented Feb. 5, 1963 3,076,548 SRTING DEVICE Robert W. Branda, Grand Bianc, Sidney M. Davey, Ferndale, and Robert J. Ebbert and William R. McBride,

Rochester, Mich.; said Branda, Ebbert, and McBride assignors to said Davey Filed Dec. 3i), 1960, Ser. No. 79,816 Claims. (Cl. 209-38) This invention relates to sorting devices, and more particularly to arrangements for sorting packages of stacked sheets such as paper currency in 4different locations depending upon whether the packages are of proper thickness.

-In copending application Serial No. 79,815, filed December 30, 1960, vand entitled Packaging Machine, which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application, a device is shown and claimed which ena-bles predetermined ygroups of money bills to be stacked, each stack banded, and the b-anded stacks removed from an endl-ess conveyor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which can automatically measure the thickness of these packages to determine whether each package has the proper number of bills, and to place the packages in either of two locations, one for packages of proper thickness and one for packages of improper thickness.

It is another object to provide an improved sorting device of the above nature which can measure the package thickness without interrupting the exiting movement of the packages from an endless conveyor on which the packages are formed.

It is also `an object to provide an improved thickness measuring and sorting device of the above character which insures proper sorting despite variations in thickness which could occur, for example, when one or more of the money bills in a package carries a strip of cellulose tape or similar material on one portion thereof.

It is a further object to provide an improved thickness measuring and sorting device having the above characteristics, which is quite sensitive in operation but which nevertheless is extremely reliable and eiiicient, requiring little maintenance and being relatively economical to fabricate.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention -will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is apartially schematic side elevational view showing the exit end of a bill packaging machine with which the novel thickness measuring and sorting device of this invention has been incorporated;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary and partially schematic cross sectional view in elevation taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 and showing the relationship between the gauging and dr-iving rollers as well as the wires which operate the limit switches; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view in elevation of a typical stack of banded money bills with a malformation due to the presence of a strip of tape 011 the edge of one bill in the package.

In general terms, the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises ya ramp along which the packages move, and a pair of rollers adjacent the ramp, one of these rollers being movably mounted so that the packages passing between them will move this roller. The roller -controls movement of a switch contact between two stationary contacts, so that if the package is of proper thickness the movable contact will be separated from both stationary contacts. This switch means is in a circuit in series with first and second limit switches, the tlrst limit switch being normally open and the second normally closed. The two limit switches are controlled by wires in the path of the pack-ages and in tandem relation just past the two rollers. The circuit controls a normally open relay switch in series with a solenoid which operates a two-position diverting door. This door is normally in a position leading to a first compartment for acceptable packages, that is, packages of proper thickness, but is shiftable to 4its second position by closure of the relay switch so that a package will fall into a reject compartment.

The relay switch, although closable instantaneously upon closure of the aforementioned circuit, will open only after a short time delay when the circuit is interrupted. This arrangement, in conjunction with the relative positions of the limit switch control wires and the diverting door, assures uninterrupted movement of packrages to the -two compartments, even in cases where a package may vary in thickness and it passes through the rollers so as to cause a change in position of the movable switch contact.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 'the exit end of the packaging machine is generally indicated at 11 and the thickness measuring and sorting device is generally indicated at 12 in FIGURE l. As described more fully in the aforesaid accompanying application, packaging machine 11 has a frame 13 with an endless conveyor 14 on which are mounted a plurality of trays 15. As these trays move along the upper run of conveyor 14, attendants standing alongside the machine can successively place a certain number of bills lof predetermined denoiminations in each tray with their long aXiS perpendicular to the direction of conveyor movement. The stacks of -bills then reach a banding station (not shown) where a paper band previously placed in the tray is wrapped around each stack to form a package. The band is centrally located, being considerably narrower than the bills and extending in the direction of conveyor movement. After passing a printing Station (also not shown) where the bands may be imprinted with suitable indicia, the packages are removed from the trays as they round sprocket 16 by lingers 17 pivoted at 1S and mov.- able by a cam 19 through linkage 21, 22.

Fingers 17 are downwardly and forwardly inclined ias seen in FIGURE 1 so that each package 23 removed from a tray 15 will slide downwardly along the ngers as urged by the back 24 of its tray. A downwardly and forwardly inclined ramp 25 is provided which is substantially contiguous with iingers 17, [and a plurality of pairs of driving rollers 26, 27, a single roller 28, and a plurality of pairs of rollers 29, 31 and 32 are disposed above ramp 25 and a diverting door 33 contiguous with ramp 25 at the forward end thereof. Rollers 26 to 32 are continuously rotated 'by means (not shown) and are backed up or counteracted by pairs of rollers 34, 35, a single roller 36, and pairs of rollers 37, 38 and 39 disposed below ramp 25 and door 33, so that packages Z3 will be rapidly moved down ramp 25.

Door 33 is normally in a solid line position as shown in FIGURE 1 in alignment with ramp 25, so that packages will pass therealong and drop into a compartment 41 located at the lower end of door 33. This compartment is for packages of acceptable thickness, and door 33 is shiftable on a pivot axis 4t2 to a dot-dash line position in which its left hand end is above ramp 25, so that packages will fall oit the end of this ramp into a reject compartment 43 below a guide member 44.

Rollers 26 to 32 are supported on a frame 45, and rollers 34 are supported by downwardly extending portions of lingers 17. Rollers 35 are carried by the same pivot axis 18 which supports fingers 17, whereas rollers 37, 38 and 39 are mounted on stationary shafts 46, 47 and 48 respectively. All the rollers are so located with respect to tbe longitudinal axis of symmetry of the apparatus as to engage the paper currency itself rather than the central band which holds each package.

Unlike the other rollers, which are in pairs, there 1s only one roller 28 and one roller 36 mounted as shown in FIGURE 2, another roller 449 counteracting the other driving roller 51 which is coaxial with roller 28. Rollers 49 and 51 may be termed gauging rollers and are of steel or other rigid material. While roller 36 is resiliently mounted as indicated at 52, roller 49 is on a pivot axis 53 carried by an arm 54 pivoted on shaft 46. A second arm 55 is secured to arm 54 and extends downwardly therefrom, a tension spring 56 being connected between arm 55 and a stationary member 57 so that arms 54 and 5 are urged clockwise about pivot 46, thus urging rollei 49 upwardly against roller 51.

Arm 55 is somewhat longer than arm 54 and extends rearwardly and downwardly as seen in FIGURE l, the lofwe'r end of this arm carrying a projection 58 engageable with an intermediate portion of a leaf spring 59. This spring is secured 'at its upper end to a bracket 61 mounted `on a stationary pivot .62 and having an arm engageable by an eccentric cam 63 mounted on a pivot 64. Cam 63 may be calibrated as indicated at 65 and is manually rotatable to adjust the angular position of bracket 61 on its pivot, thus selecting the position of `spring 59 with respect to arm 55.

A J-shaped bracket 66 is secured to the lower end o f bracket 61 and carries a pair of electrical contacts 67 Jand 68, these contacts being adjustable toward and away from 'each other by .screws 69 and 71 respectively. The lower end of leaf spring 59 carries a double contact 72, 73 of a sensing switch engageable with either contact 67 or 68 depending upon the position of contact 72, 73 in .the gap between the stationary contacts. Spring 59 is s0 .constructed that when unengaged by arm 55 it will cause contact 73 to lightly engage contact 67.

A rst normally opened limit switch 74 and a second normally closed limit switch 75 are mounted adjacent arm 54 and are connected in series with one side of a voltage supply source 76 and with leaf spring 59 leading .to contacts 72 Vand 73. Spring 59 is electrically insulated from bracket y61 by an insulative member 77, the entire Vassembly comprising brackets 61 and 66, leaf spring 59 and contacts69 and '71 being urged counterclockwise about pivot 62 by a tension spring 78. One terminal of .switch 74 is connected to supply source 76 by a wire 79, another wire 81 connecting a terminal of 'switch 75 to spring S9.

Contacts. 67 and 68 are connected by wires 82, 83 and 84 to one side of a coil 85 of a time delay relay 86, the other 'side of this relay being connected by a wire 87 to Vthe other side of voltage source 76. Relay 86 has a switch 188 which is normallyopen but which is closed instantaneously when coil 85 is energized. When coil85 is deenergized, switch 88 is adapted to be opened after a short 4time delay.

Switch 88 is in a circuit including a voltage supply source 89, a solenoid 91, and wires 92 and 93. Solenoid '91 is connected by linkage shown schematically at 94 to diverting door 33, so that when solenoid 91 is energized door 33 will move from its solid line to its dot-dash line position.

Switches 74 and 75 are controlled by a pair of wires 95 and 96 respectively, these wires extending upwardly from the switches, which are located below ramp 25, through clearance means in the ramp and into the path of packages 23 moving downwardly along the ramp. Although the locations of the upper ends of wires 95 and 96 are shown some distance away from each other and from rollers 49 and 51, actually the upper end of wire 95 will be only about'lt of an inch down the ramp from the contacting portions of rollers 49 and 51, whereas the upper end of wire 96 will be about 1A: of an inch past wire 95. These wires are of suicient stiffness to be deected by a package 23 moving down along the ramp, and to insure that the packages are not deflected from their path of movement by the wires, a wheel 97 having a central groove 98 is disposed between rollers 28 and 51 as shown in FIGURE 2. The upper ends of wires 95 and 96 are disposed within groove 98 and wheel 97 acts to hold the central portions of packages 23 down as the packages move past the wires.

In operation, cam 63 will initially be set in accordance with the thickness of the packages to be made up on machine 11. This will in effect set leaf spring 59 with respect to arm 55. Contacts I67 and 68 will ordinarily be spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the distance which the thickness of one bill would cause contacts 72 and 73 to move. In other words, assuming that each bill is 0.0035 inch thick, and that a movement of 0.0035 inch between rollers 49 and 51 would result in a movement of 0.024 inch at contacts 72 and 73, contacts 67 and 68 will be spaced apart about 0.024 inch.

Assuming that a correct package is to have four bills, the apparatus will be set so that if only three bills pass between rollers 49 and 51, arm 55 will not move far enough to engage spring 59. If tive bills are in a package passing between rollers 49 and 51, arm 55 will move far enough to engage spring 59 and cause it to leave contact 67 and engage contact 68. When four bills are disposed between rollers 49 and 51, arm 55 will move just far enough to engage spring 59 and cause contact 73 to become separated from contact 67. However, the spring will not be moved far enough to cause contact 72 to engage contact 68.

Assuming, then, that a package 23 is `passing between rollers 49 and 51 with four bills, the circuit supplied by voltage source 76 will remain open as the package begins to pass between the rollers. Since relay 86 is de-energized, switch 88 will be open and solenoid 91 de-energized, with door 33 in Yits solid line position. Immediately thereafter, the package will engage wire 95, closing switch 74. However, this will have no effect on the circuit since the circuit is broken by the position of spring S9.

A moment later, the package will engage Wire 96, opening switch 75. As the rear edge of the package leaves rollers 49 and 51, contacts 67 and 73 will come .into engagement. The distance between edge 97 of door 33 and the contacting portions of rollers 49 and 51 is such that as the rear edge of each package leaves the rollers, the 4forward edge will begin to pass the door. The circuit will remain open because the package still engages wire 96, so that switch 75 is open. As the rear edge of the package leaves wire 95 switch 74 will open and when the package leaves wire 96 switch 75 will close. The circuit of relay 86 will remain open at all times so that door 33 will not move, and package 23 vwill pass down into compartment 41. Assuming that the nextpackag'e has five bills and should therefore be rejected, it will cause contacts 72 and 68 to become engaged as it begins to pass between rollers 49 and 51. At this point, relay 86 will not be energized since switch 74 is still open. However, as package 23 engages wire 95, switch 74 will close and relay 86 will be energized, closing switch 88. This will energize solenoid 91 and shift door 33 to its dot-dash line or reject position. As package 23 engages wire 96, switch 75 will open. However, due to the time delay in relay 86, switch 88 will remain closed and solenoid r91 will remain energized, thus holding door 33 in its dot-dash line position. This time delay will be sucient for package 23 to pass through the opening 98 created by the movement of door 33 to its dot-dash line position, and it will thus drop into reject compartment 43.

During this movement, the package will first leave rollers 49 and 51, causing re-engagement of contacts 67 and 73. It will then leave wire 95, opening switch 74, .and immediately thereafter leave wire 96, closing switch 75. The period of time during which electrical power is supplied -to coil of relay 86 will be relatively short,

that is, the time it takes for the leading edge of package 23 to travel from wire 95 to wire 96. The time delay eriod in relay 86 is such that if this period starts when the leading edge of package 23 engages wire 96, the period will terminate just after the package drops throuh opening 98, and switch 88 will then open, de-energizing solenoid 91 and shifting door 33 to its solid line position before the next package arrives.` Y

A similar Vsequence of events will occur if a package has less than four bills. In -such case, contacts 67 and 73 will remain in engagement throughout the movement, and current will be supplied to coil 85 from the time the leading edge of package 23 engages wire 9'5 until this leading edge engages wire 96.

FIGURE 3 shows a portion of a package 23 having `four bills 99, 101, 102 and 103 held by a band 104. Let us assume that a stripof tape such as cellulose mending tape 165 is wrapped around the forward edge of bill 99. The thickness of the package as measured by rollers 49 and 51 will initially be the distance indicated at A, but after the tape passes through the rollers, this distance will be Vdecreased to distance B which is the proper thickness for four bills.

Initially, then, as the package begins to move between the rollers, Contact 72 will engage contact 68. As the leading edge of the package engages wire 9S which is only 1A of an inch past the contacting portions of rollers 49 and 51, switch 74 will close. Assuming that the width of tape 105 is greater than 1/4 of an inch, this will cause energization of relay 86, and movement of door 33 to its dot-dash line position.

Shortly thereafter, however, tape 105 will pass through the rollers and the rollers will then measure thickness B, causing contacts 68 and 72 to separate. If there were no time delay in relay 86, this would cause the door to move back to its solid line position. Such rapid movement of the door, however, might result in malfunction of the mechanism due to the inertia of the parts and other factors. The time delay which maintains door 33 in its dot-dash line position once it reaches that position until the package drops into compartment 43v will thus prevent any such malfunction.

In another example, if the tape is at an intermediate portion of a bill, the package otherwise being of proper thickness, the leading edge of package 23 will pass Wires 95 and 96 before the tape reaches the rollers and closes contacts 72 and 68. At this point, therefore, switch 75 will be open and the engagement of contacts 68 and 72 will have no effect, door 33 remaining in its solid line position. It other words, if either contact 67 or 68 is engaged before the 4leading edge of package 23 engages wire 96, and after it engages wire 95, that package will be rejected; all others will be accepted.

It is possible that a package with an incorrect number of bill-s could enter acceptable bin 41. This would occur if, for example, a strip of mending tape on one of the bills suicient t-o create the correct thickness passed between rollers 49 and 51 for a distance greater than onehalf inch, that is, until switch 75 opened. The chances of such a strip of tape being present in an incorrect package would however be very slight. Moreover, in normal practice, the attendants must all use up their previously counted supplies of bills at the same time, and if they do not, all packages would be manually checked.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modication, variation .and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In combination, relatively movable gauging members adapted to receive packages of stacked sheets therebetween, a sensing switch, means responsive to the presence of a package between said members having a thick- 6 ness within a predetermined range for opening said sensing switch and responsive to the presence of a package between said members having a thickness outside said range for closing said sensing switch, a normally open first limit switch closable in response to passage of a leading edge of a package between said members, a normally closed second limit switch openable in response to movement of said leading edge a short distance past said first limit switch, said limit switches being returnable to their normal positions in response to departure of each package from the respective switches, sorting means, means for normally holding said sorting means in one position, and motor means responsive to simultaneous closure of said limit switches and said sensing switch for shifting the sorting means to another position.

2. The combination according to claim l, further provided with a normally open relay adapted to close instan, taneously in response to simultaneous closure of said limit switches and said sensing switch and to open after a time delay upon opening of one of said switches, said motor means comprising a solenoid controllable by said relay. v

3. The combination according to claim 1, said sensing switch comprising a movable contact disposed between two stationary contacts, a leaf spring supporting said movable contact, a bracket supporting said leaf spring and fixed contacts, an arm movable by one of said gauging members and engageable with said leaf spring, and means for adjusting the position of said bracket whereby the position of said leaf spring may be adjusted with respect to said arm.

4. In combination, means for conveying packages along a path, xed and movable gauging rollers in said path,

`means urging said movable roller against said tixed roller,

able by packages to move the second limit switch to its open position, a normally open time delay relay instantaneously closable in response to simultaneous closure of said switches and openable after a time delay in response to opening of one of said switches, and diverting means movable between first and second positions in response t0 opening and closing of said relay.

5. The combination according to claim 4, said conveying means comprising a ramp adapted to support centrally banded packages of paper currency, said rollers being to one side of the ramp centerline whereby the rollers will engage the paper currency.

6. The combination according to claim 5, said wires being substantially at the central portion of said ramp and extending upwardly therethrough, and a wheel having a circumferential guide slot mounted above said ramp and receiving said wires.

7. The combination according to claim 5, said diverting means comprising a door having a irst position aligned with said ramp and a second position in which the edge of said door closest to said rollers is lifted above said ramp, said door edge being spaced from the contacting portions of said rollers approximately the same distance as the width of each package in the direction of its movement along the ramp.

8. In combination, a ramp adapted to carry packages of stacked sheets therealong, a plurality of rotatably driven rollers -above said ramp adapted to push the packages therealong, a roller movably mounted below said ramp, means urging said movable roller upwardly against one of said driven rollers, an arm movable with said movable roller, switch means comprising a pair of spaced contacts and a movable contact therebetween, means urging said movable contact against one of said stationary contacts, said arm being movable in response to the presence of a package with a predetermined number' of sheets between said movable roller and its correspond# ing driven roller to separate said movable contact from said one contact, said arm being further movable in response to the presence of a package having one more sheet than said predetermined number of sheets between said last-mentioned rollers to cause said movable contact to' engage the other stationary contact, a normally open limit switch in series with said contacts, actuating means responsive to the passage of the leading` edge of the package between said last-mentioned rollers for closing said limit switch, a' normally closed second limit switch, in series with said lirst limit switch, actuating means responsive to movement of the leading edge of the package a slight distance past said lirst limit switch actuating means for opening said second vlimit switch, diverting means on the exit side of said last-mentioned rollers, and motor means responsive to engagement of said movable contact with either of said stationary contacts and closure of said normally open and normally closed limit switches for shifting said diverting means.

9. lnpcombination, a fixed member, a movable mem'- ber, means for passing a package between said members, switch means operably connected to` said movable member, said switch means being movable to an open position in response to passage of a package within a predetermined thickness range between said members and to a vclosed position in the absence of a package within said predetermined thickness range between said members, a normally open limit switch in series with said switch means, actuating means responsive to passage of the leading edge of a package between said members for closing said limit switch, a normally closed second limit switch in series with said rst limit switch, actuating means responsive to movement of the leading edge of the package a slight distance past said first limit switch actuating means for opening said second limit switch, package diverting means on the exit side of said members movable between first and second positions, and motor means controllable by closure of said switch means and said lirst and second limit switches for moving, said package diverting means between its positions.

v 10. In combination, a fixed member, a movable member, means for passing a package between said members, switch means operably connected to said movable member, said switch means being movable to an open position in response to passage of a package within a predetermined thickness range between said members and to a closed positionin the absence of a package within said predetermined thickness range between said members, regardless of whether the package is too thick or too thin, a normally open limit switch in series with said switch means, actuating means independent of said switch means and' responsive to passage of the leading edge of ya package between said members for closing said limit switch, package diverting means on the exit side of said members movable between first and second positions, motor means controllable by closure of said switch means and said limit switch for moving said package diverting means between its positions, and means responsive to shifting of said diverting means for maintaining the diverting means in its shifted position for a predetermined period of time.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,978,263 Hunter Oct. 23, 1934 2,569,564 Gulliet Oct. 2, Y1951 2,891,667 Truver June 23, 1959 

1. IN COMBINATION, RELATIVELY MOVABLE GAUGING MEMBERS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE PACKAGES OF STACKED SHEETS THEREBETWEEN, A SENSING SWITCH, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PRESENCE OF A PACKAGE BETWEEN SAID MEMBERS HAVING A THICKNESS WITHIN A PREDETERMINED RANGE FOR OPENING SAID SENSING SWITCH AND RESPONSIVE TO THE PRESENCE OF A PACKAGE BETWEEN SAID MEMBERS HAVING A THICKNESS OUTSIDE SAID RANGE FOR CLOSING SAID SENSING SWITCH, A NORMALLY OPEN FIRST LIMIT SWITCH CLOSABLE IN RESPONSE TO PASSAGE OF A LEADING EDGE OF A PACKAGE BETWEEN SAID MEMBERS, A NORMALLY CLOSED SECOND LIMIT SWITCH OPENABLE IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID LEADING EDGE A SHORT DISTANCE PAST SAID FIRST LIMIT SWITCH, SAID LIMIT SWITCHES BEING RETURNABLE TO THEIR NORMAL POSITIONS IN RESPONSE TO DEPARTURE OF EACH PACKAGE FROM THE RESPECTIVE SWITCHES, SORTING MEANS, MEANS FOR NORMALLY HOLDING SAID SORTING MEANS IN ONE POSITION, AND MOTOR MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SIMULTANEOUS CLOSURE OF SAID LIMIT SWITCHES AND SAID SENSING SWITCH FOR SHIFTING THE SORTING MEANS TO ANOTHER POSITION. 